30 Must See photos of WWE Superstars before they were famous

Becoming a WWE superstar is a dream scenario. Many want to get there, but only the hard working and determined ones make it to the ship.And Getting into the ship brings a lot of change in terms of looks and attitude to the superstars.Just like how time changes a person, a big milestone in a career also brings drastic transformations. The legendary and not so legendary WWE superstars were no different.After all, they are humans with blood running through their veins and arteries. So just to realize how much does the stardom effect a particular person. Here is a look at some of the pictures of WWE superstars before they made it into the ship and after they busted their rear to make it big.

#15 Rusev and Steve Austin

The Bulgarian Brute has worked his way up since his days at NXT, and has made good progress for foreign heel gimmick. It could have been greater hadn’t injuries and wrong booking decisions come his way.

His earlier look may not be intimidating as his current one, but it sure looked entirely different.

The bald headed, beer drinking, foul mouthed Texas guy came into WWE and put an end to WCW’s reign in the Monday night wars.

But one thing that many fans might not know is where Austin came from. He had a run in WCW and ECW before WWE found him and there, he had long blond hair instead of his trademark spotless head.

#14 Ryback and Randy Savage

The big guy was clearly a big guy during his teenage years as well.

Ryback’s entrance into the WWE scene with a cowboy gimmick didn’t work pretty well and when the Goldberg inspired gimmick was hitting all the right chords, WWE pushed it too early and messed things up.

He seems to be in a rebooting phase now and hopefully he will live up to the potential now.

The Macho Man Randy Savage was one of those superstars who could give Hulk Hogan a run for his money back in the early 90s.

He had successful runs in WWE and WCW and, before the cool guy came along, there was this neat cut persona of the superstar that would make the ladies drool.

#13 Mark Henry and Seth Rollins

Henry was someone for which the WWE had a lot of plans. He was even expected to match the Rock and Steve Austin in merchandise sales and marketability, but we all know how those plans ended up.

His current status points to an inevitable retirement – that would end a career that didn’t live up to the expectations of McMahon.

Rollins broke out as the company’s top heel after the Shield broke up.

Though the WWE fans only know him as part of the Shield, Rollins did have a successful run in the independent scene before he decided to join McMahon’s promotion. And these pictures date back to a period much before his independent wrestling days.

#12 Roman Reigns and Sheamus

The Samoan family’s dreams of having a new World Champion rest on Roman Reigns.

He has everything that is needed to reach there including the much needed looks and flair. Before Reigns went on to make it big in the WWE, he was having a good run in the college football scene and this picture came right from that period of his career.

Sheamus is a mid card version of John Cena even though it’s a bit hard to notice.

The man has been heavily protected all the time and many say it’s because of his close friendship with Triple H – which makes sense considering his successful cash-in. Before Sheamus made all those ties he was an Irish brawler that looked a pretty differnt.

#11 Sable and Bellas

Sunny could be pointed out as the WWE’s first ever Divas.

Despite that tag, it was Sable who went on to make the ‘Divas ‘famous and mainstream. Lesnar’s real life wife had a memorable run in the WWE and it would be hard for the current Divas to surpass what Sable did during her prime.

Getting twins to be in a wrestling promotion is never too easy.

Bellas however, were a gold mine for Vince McMahon only if they knew how to be good wrestlers or know some good old acting. The girls, however, had the looks and showmanship right from their childhood as we can see in the picture.

#10 AJ Lee and Triple H

The picture of a girl that broke out crying when she saw her idol Lita is not a secret sight to the WWE fans.

Everyone knew that the girl was AJ Lee and it was a rare moment of wrestling to be frank, though, it is easy to include that picture in the list, here is an alternative one just for the sake of freshness.

Triple H is all set to take over the WWE Empire from Vince McMahon in the coming years and just like McMahon, Hunter did see a lot of eras throughout his career.

He had a handful of forgettable characters before he struck gold in the Attitude Era and it’s always good to see how the boss looked during his younger days.

#9 Jeff Hardy and Paige

Hardy might have controversies tied around his back, but it is hard to ignore the stunts that Hardy has pulled off during his career.

The daredevil is still going strong in TNA and the fans would embrace him with both hands if he returned to WWE for one last run in the promotion – which has been a speculation running around.

While WWE has seen a plethora of wrestling talent from American Wrestling families, the same from British wrestling families was a rarity.

However, Paige broke that tradition. She came into the WWE and took the divas division by storm by stamping her place as a lone competition to AJ Lee.

#8 The Undertaker and Chris Jericho

The mystery and a legendary aura made Undertaker a standout performer during in the WWE.

However, this photo of Taker from College doesn’t have the traits mentioned above. He would’ve struggled to make it big with this look but then again, aging does wonders.

In his autobiography ‘A Lion’s tale’, Jericho tells that he wanted to either become a wrestler or a rock star when he was young.

Well, he worked hard from the age of 14 to do the same and ended up achieving both of his dreams rather than just ending up with one.

#7 Stephanie McMahon and Vince McMahon

Growing up as the daughter of Vince McMahon was sure to make Stephanie a mainstay in WWE’s backstage.

While she still plays a big role in the WWE storylines, here is a look at Stephanie’s old picture to show that she hasn’t aged much even though it’s been almost two decades in the business.

The man who made professional wrestling a phenomenon around the World, Vince McMahon didn’t undergo much change with the aging process.

His hair did go grey, but from what we know, he still has a great physique and a million dollar face to go with it.

#6 Ric Flair and Rikishi

Back in the territory days, Ric Flair was the one who held all the territories together.

Flair was the standard for professional wrestlers before Vince McMahon took WWE into mainstream territory. Though we know Flair as a blonde guy, he did have a better look during his younger days.

Another legend from the Samoan family, Rikishi was an integral part in the Attitude Era.

He might be a bit overlooked due to the huge star power that were around him, but Rikishi gave some memorable moments including that sheer drop from the Hell in a Cell right into a truck.

#5 Mick Foley and Randy Orton

The childhood and teenage years of the Hardcore legend are known around the world thanks to his bestselling autobiography,” Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks”. He claims that he didn’t have the awesome looks back then, but from the picture we can see that his level of honesty wasn’t that great.

Orton was another superstar who was born into the wrestling business.

His father was a great upper mid-carder during the golden era and Orton did have big boots to fulfill. The Viper, however, exceeded those expectations and came out becoming an even more successful wrestler than his father.

#4 Kevin Nash and Kurt Angle

A lot of people still blame Kevin Nash for the demise of WCW.

He had a big say during the time in which he ended Goldberg’s 173 match winning streak and the finger poke of doom incident that followed. Despite this, Nash was a crucial figure in professional wrestling during the Monday Night Wars.

Angle came into the wrestling business after getting a Gold Medal in the 1996 Olympics.

He was initially tied to Paul Heyman’s ECW but soon ended up in theWWE and the rest is history. Angle went on to become one of the best technicians in the business and still draws big crowds into the arena.

#3 Bill Goldberg and Hulk Hogan

It’s fair to say that Goldberg was overrated during his undefeated WCW run.

Most of the matches that he had were just under one minute long and his move set was even worse than that of Cena. Despite all of these critical points, Goldberg turned out to be a big factor in the Monday Night Wars and came out with a 173 match winning streak.

Hogan is still the SI Unit of comparison for professional wrestling. During his prime, it was his run that determined which was the better promotion.

When he was with WWE, Vince McMahon was able to stamp his promotion as a mainstream phenomenon and when he jumped to WCW, the promotion became a credible challenge for WWE. But before the half bald Hulkster that came along, there was this well-haired teenager ready to break out and make waves in the business.

#2 The Rock and CM Punk

Rock was clearly destined to be a professional wrestler as his entire family was dedicated to the business.

WWE introduced him as the first ever third generation superstar and though he didn’t click initially, some great mic work and a little help from the fans turned the tides around for the most electrifying superstar that WWE has seen.

The WWE superstars might be split about CM Punk’s decision to quit professional wrestling, but we cannot ignore the things that he has done.

Before becoming a world famous in-ring worker, Punk had a photo session with none other than Steve Austin himself. Now, we know where the inspiration for his character came from don’t we?

#1 Brock Lesnar and John Cena

WWE’s Beast Incarnate might be ruthless in between the ropes, but had a nerdy look before he made it into the WWE roster.

Instead of the look of that portrayed pure intentions of destruction in his face, Lesnar shows a sort of an innocence which would’ve been clearly bad for business if he carried it all the way to his professional wrestling career.

The Cenation leader always dreamt of becoming a WWE superstar and the first thing he did to achieve that dream was to become a body builder.

Most of these old pictures making rounds on the Internet comes in from that period, including this one where he rubs his cleanly shaved head.